by Terah Van Dusen

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Billboard People

Instead of regurgitating facts
why not digest the knowledge
Instead of claiming ideas as your own
shoving them down my throat
like capsules of lead
let them collect around you
and carefully handle the wisdom
grow to understand it …
before you accept it
Everything has a label now
most of all, our own persons
are we not all tagged as this
or that?
Who am I if I do not
promote myself to you?
Do I exist at all?
Have I no life if
I am not on display?
Have I got no education if
I don’t wear it like a badge?
Have I got no past if
I don’t carry my albums
in my mouth
spilling them out
on the floor at every change
waiting for you to stop
talking so that I might
do my dance
How old are we anyway?
Still young enough for
Show and Tell?
Are my bones
my breath
my eyes
my body
all lost on you?
Is my presence
not enough?
I forgot my billboard
at home
You forgot my
address
my phone number
You forgot I’m
a person
not a number
Not friend
number 362
but a soul
a spirit
a woman
begging
authenticity
from
you

Here are the places your poem takes my heart. I am not only one who believes in the sanctity of every fallen sparrow, but i know that if a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it that it makes a sound, I know a nobody who has been there and heard it. I believe that every one of our thoughts, hope, action and words affects the fabric of the universe in some way. It’s true, some only see the billboards and react accordingly, but there are some who see the little tracks in the dust, the diamonds on the water and hear a whisper in the wind, and can only marvel and wonder, which I continue to do at you Terah. Thanks for the inspiration. I go to check out a different universe.